Graffiti has been viewed as distasteful vandalism or public art that abounded in urban landscapes around the mid 1900s, with prominent artists like Taki 183 rising in the subway scene. Graffiti has evolved into a politically inspiring movement and expression of an alternative, underground subculture. Learning the tricks of drawing graffiti means learning artistic skills and craftsmanship. If your drawing is good enough to show, there are ways for you to graffiti legally. And with the right permission, your artwork will not pose any threat or damages to anyone's property.

Observe the Styles

Become familiar with the styles of graffiti, like the basic tag-signature style, a wobbling bubble-shaped word style and the blockbuster style. Looking at these will be the teachers and guides for your own drawings. Many urban areas exhibit some types of graffiti tags where you can observe the artist's drawing techniques, shading and colors used. Study graffiti blogs, published books and art gallery websites to absorb the current trends and characteristics of graffiti created today.

Sketch out Concepts

Begin sketching out ideas on paper with a pencil. Draw any political messages or symbolism that will jostle your own inspiration of what your design will represent. Plan out your drawings for large proportions, as the readability should be adaptable to different media. Strategically outline your idea into one bold name, short phrase or symbolic character that is guaranteed to win attention.

Create Effects

Now artistically express your message and concept through simple drawing and add coloring effects. Mold the outline of the letters into popular graffiti word styles like block lettering or bubbling the characters. Loosen up the formal lines by dramatically sharpening the angles or giving it more of a wild style. Color your design by mixing warm and cool colors together or making the background exclamatory with neon.

Make Finishing Touches

Create the visual finishing touches in your graphic by adding smaller touches to it. Emphasize your graffiti words with creative highlights by just using white. Strengthen the values and shades by darkening features and lightening others to create an ideal three-dimensional shape. When the graffiti drawing looks and feels 100 percent complete, outline the drawing with fine point black marker.

Source:

How to Draw Graffiti

Hiphop Network

Graffiti Archeology

Resource:

How to Draw Graffiti

At 149th St.

NY Graffiti Letters